..•L 


DUKE 

UNIVERSITY 

LIBRARY 


Treasure  %oom 


Samuel  WH.  $emtppacfcer 


Two  Hundred  Copies 
printed  in  May,  1917 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2011  with  funding  from 
Duke  University  Libraries 


http://www.archive.org/details/samuelwpennypack01cars 


i  •■■' 


Samuel  OT,  $ennj>pacfeer 


AN  ADDRESS  DELIVERED  BEFORE 

THE  PHILOBIBLON  CLUB 

OCTOBER  26,  1916 


BY 

HAMPTON  L.  CARSON,  ESQ. 


PHILADELPHIA 

mt  mHobiblon  Club 

1917 


Copyright,  1917,  by 
The  Philobiblon  Club 


press  or 

J.    B.  LIPPINCOTT    COMPANY 
PHILADELPHIA 


Samuel  ©HL  jpetmppcfeer 

Gentlemen  of  The  Philobiblon  Club: 

This  meeting  is  commemorative  of  Samuel  W. 
Pennypacker,  your  late  president.  Although  not  a 
member  of  your  Club,  I  have  been  invited  to  deliver 
the  Memorial  Address,  mainly,  I  suppose,  because  of 
my  long  knowledge  of  him  in  the  profession  of  the  law, 
and  particularly  because  during  the  four  years  of  his 
Governorship  I  stood  in  closer  official  relationship  to 
him  than  any  other  member  of  his  cabinet. 

I  knew  him  well;  I  respected  him  truly;  I  honored 
him  faithfully.  I  honored  and  respected  him  to  the 
end  of  his  life.  I  shall  honor  and  respect  his  memory 
to  the  end  of  my  own. 

It  cannot  be  expected  that  I  should  give  you  a 
complete  or  well-finished  portrait.  It  would  require  a 
volume  to  do  that,  and  involve  at  least  a  year's  prepa- 
ration. He  died  less  than  sixty  days  ago,  and  our 
hearts  still  throb  with  a  sense  of  personal  loss,  and  our 
eyes  are  still  dim  with  emotion.  He  had  so  many 
sides  to  his  character,  and  he  was  conspicuous  in  so 
many  fields  of  human  endeavor  that  to  follow  him 
throughout  his  varied  career  would  be  impracticable 
on  an  occasion  such  as  this.  Student,  soldier,  lawyer, 
judge,  governor,  public  service  commissioner,  scholar, 

5 


historian,  book-lover,  book-collector,  and  Pennsyl- 
vanian,  in  each  of  these  roles  he  won  distinction, 
contributed  to  our  stores  of  knowledge,  served  the 
State  with  fidelity  and  commanded  our  respect  while 
awakening  our  wonder.  His  active  life  was  like  rock- 
crystal,  radiating  the  white  light  of  a  career  of  usefulness 
and  honor. 

In  the  main,  I  must  confine  myself  this  evening  to 
his  literary  traits  and  his  accomplishments  as  a  biblio- 
phile. At  some  other  time  and  place  I  shall  endeavor 
to  do  justice  to  his  greatness  as  a  public  man. 

His  personality  was  individual  and  peculiar,  full 
of  the  most  baffling  characteristics.  Humor  and  seri- 
ousness, pride  of  ancestry  and  democratic  simplicity; 
breadth  of  view,  and  peculiar  bias;  respect  for  authority 
and  disregard  of  conventionalities;  gentleness  of  heart 
and  firmness  in  the  discharge  of  duty;  knowledge  of 
men,  and  the  ingenuousness  of  a  child;  recondite  learn- 
ing and  practical  sagacity;  visions  of  the  unseen  and 
familiarity  with  the  farm  and  factory;  ability  to  argue 
with  the  most  abstract  of  philosophers,  and  ability  to 
talk  with  the  stable  boy  and  track  walker;  a  memory 
accurate,  profound,  retentive  and  reproductive;  skill  in 
making  obscure  things  clear;  a  style  of  writing  both 
plain  and  graphic;  a  peculiar  elocution  which  at  first 
repelled  and  then  riveted  attention;  these  were  some 
of  the  traits  which  made  him  a  marked  man  in  any 
assembly,  whether  of  the  worldly  great,  or  of  lowly 
citizens.  He  fulfilled  Emerson's  definition  of  greatness, 
"He  is  great,  who  is  what  he  is  from  nature,  and  who 


never  reminds  us  of  others."  He  was  a  facsimile  of 
no  man.  When  Nature  made  him,  she  broke  the  mould. 
The  task  of  a  biographer  in  analyzing  character  is 
much  like  that  of  the  analytical  chemist  in  testing 
ores,  but  he  has  not  the  crucibles  and  scales  and  tubes 
in  which  to  determine  the  quantities  and  qualities  of 
the  drops  of  ancestral  blood  which  in  the  course  of  a 
long  descent  become  a  mixed  and  turbulent  stream. 
The  ancestry  of  President  Pennypacker  can  be  traced 
without  difficulty  through  thirty-three  generations  to 
the  ancient  Counts  of  Holland  in  the  ninth  century, 
and  through  fifteen  generations  to  the  Queen  of  Edward 
III  of  England.  There  were  men  who  had  built 
churches,  made  pilgrimages  to  the  Holy  Land,  taken 
part  in  tournaments,  been  rescued  from  pirates,  founded 
colleges,  led  lives  of  restless  ambition,  or  "laughed  in 
their  very  hearts  in  the  midst  of  jolly  companions." 
There  were  women  who  had  married  kings,  earls,  and 
knights  or  joined  the  Society  of  Friends.  There  were 
men  who  were  mariners,  preachers,  judges,  assembly- 
men or  doctors  of  medicine.  There  were  women  who 
had  ransomed  prisoners,  were  skilful  with  the  needle, 
or  were  gentle  mothers  of  quiet  and  well  behaved  citi- 
zens. "This  pedigree,"  as  President  Pennypacker  once 
wrote,  "is  not  without  a  certain  philosophical  value. 
It  shows  how  the  rulers  of  small  states  by  force  and 
fortune  advanced  the  interests  of  their  families  until 
their  descendants  sat  upon  thrones,  and  how  the  blood 
of  kings,  heated  by  impulse  and  often  uncontrolled  by 
morals,  filtered  through  dukes  and  earls  and  knights 


and  esquires  until  it  finally  became  blended  with  that 
of  the  common  people." 

But  notwithstanding  this  admixture  of  Dutch  with 
Norman,  English  and  Welsh  blood,  from  what  we  know  of 
our  friend,  it  is  safe  to  assert  that  he  was  more  influenced 
by  Dierck  of  Holland  than  by  Morgan  and  Thomas  of 
England,  or  by  Aubrey  and  Bevan  of  Wales. 

Samuel  Whitaker  Pennypacker,  born  at  Phcenix- 
ville,  Pa.,  April  9th,  1843,  was  the  son  of  Isaac  Ander- 
son Pennypacker,  who  graduated  in  medicine  at  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania  in  1835,  the  first  burgess 
of  Phcenixville  in  1849,  and  Professor  of  Theory  and 
Practice  in  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Medicine.  His 
mother  was  Anna  M.  Whitaker,  daughter  of  Joseph 
WThitaker,  a  wealthy  iron  master.  His  grandfather  was 
Matthias  Pennypacker,  of  Pickering,  Chester  County, 
Pa.,  who  was  a  member  of  the  Constitutional  Conven- 
tion of  1837;  a  member  of  the  Pennsylvania  Assembly, 
and  a  corporator  of  the  Philadelphia  and  Reading 
Railroad  Company.  His  grandmother  was  Sarah 
Anderson,  daughter  of  Isaac  Anderson  who  had  been  a 
lieutenant  in  the  Revolution,  a  member  of  Congress 
from  1803  to  1807,  and  later  a  Presidential  Elector. 

Without  pursuing  the  matter  further,  enough  has 
been  said  to  indicate  the  character  of  his  ancestry. 

Through  the  courtesy  and  interest  of  Mr.  James  L. 
Pennypacker,  a  brother  of  our  lamented  friend,  I  am 
able  to  show  you  some  brochures  which  are  rare. 

It  is  a  curious  thing  to  note  that  a  man  who  gave 
so  much  of  his  time  and  strength  to  the  production  of 


books,  had  his  own  name  appear  for  the  first  time  in 
print  in  a  book  when  he  was  only  eighteen  months  old. 
I  have  here,  printed  in  Philadelphia  in  the  year  1845, 
a    Testimonial    of   Gratitude    and    Affection    to    Henry 
Clay,  which  contains  the  proceedings  of  the  Whigs  of 
Philadelphia,  assembled  in  Town  Meeting  on  the  19th 
day  of  December,   1844.     The  meeting  was  presided 
over  by  Hon.  John  Sergeant,  who,  as  you  recollect, 
was  a  vice-presidential  candidate  on  the  same  ticket 
with  Mr.  Clay.    The  resolutions  are  expressive  of  the 
appreciation  which  the  Whigs  entertained  of  the  prin- 
ciples of  Mr.  Clay  and  of  his  devotion  to  the  cause  of 
American  labor  and  industry,  and  it  seems  that  one  of 
them  provided  for  the  raising  of  a  fund  to  be  appropri- 
ated to  an  object  delicately  concealed,  but  which  his- 
torians know  fully  meant  that  friends  came  to  the  relief 
of  Mr.  Clay  and,  unknown  to  him,  paid  his  debts.    It 
was  also  resolved  that  the  list  of  subscribers  be  carefully 
preserved  and  that  thereafter  the  whole  of  the  names  be 
collected  in  a  book,  without  specifying  amounts  sub- 
scribed, and  that  the  list  of  his  friends  assembled,  with- 
out the  statement  of  the  purpose  of  their  gathering, 
should  be  presented  to  Mr.  Clay  in  person,  and  I  find, 
in  looking  over  it,  on  page  172,  the  name  of  Samuel  W. 
Pennypacker,  so  that  at  the  age  of  eighteen  months  he 
became  a  subscriber  to  principles  which  he  ever  after- 
ward exemplified.    Of  course,  you  understand  that  the 
subscription  was  made  in  the  name  of  the  boy  by  his 
father,  Doctor  Pennypacker. 

One  of  his  earliest  ventures  in  literature  is  a  Charade 


which  I  here  exhibit,  written  by  Samuel  W.  Penny- 
packer  at  the  age  of  twenty -three,  which  was  enacted 
December  31st,  1866,  on  the  word  "  Dramatic."  Of 
course,  it  is  divided  into  three  parts,  "Dram,"  "Attic" 
and  "Dramatic"  and  it  indicates  that  very  early  in  his 
life  he  possessed  the  gift,  which  he  never  lost,  of  play- 
fully and  at  times  humorously  depicting  in  dramatic 
form  the  sentiments  that  were  uppermost  in  his  mind. 
His  early  experience  as  an  assistant  in  a  drug  store  is 
plainly  seen.  In  the  first  scene  there  is  an  apothecary 
in  his  shop,  bruising  herbs  and  soliloquizing: 

"This  is  a  fearful  trade  I  follow.    Thus  to  pound 
And  pound,  and  know  that  every  stroke  is  but 
A  blow  to  drive  the  soul  from  some  poor  fellow's 
Body.    Why  was  not  a  pestle  named  a  pistol?    It 
Is  full  as  deadly.    And  what  weapon  is  more  mortal 
Than  this  Mortar?    Ah,  well,  it  is  not  for  me  to  change 
The  law  of  nature." 

Just  then  a  physician  enters  in  a  fierce  rage,  and 
the  Apothecary  dropping  his  pestle  offers  him  a  chair 
with  the  words: 

"Good  morning,  doctor,  pray 
Be  seated.    May  you  always,  and  your  patients 
Never,  be  as  well  as  you  appear  this  morning." 

The  Doctor  curses  and  the  Apothecary  asks: 

"Why,  Doctor,  what's  the  matter  ?  Has  some  unlucky 
Salve  been  strong  enough  to  draw?" 
Phys.y  "Go  get  your  file  of  recipes — (Muttering) 
Recipes,  a  word  contracted  from  the  Rest  in  Peace 
They  write  on  tombstones." 

10 


The  Apothecary  returning  with  the  prescription 
which  is  illegible — the  Doctor  says: 

"There  read  me  that  direction." 
Apothecary,    "Vinum  Gallici  lz.     And  I  did  give  the 

man 
A  right  good  dram  of  brandy — thinking  you 
Would  have  him  drunk,  and  charge  a 
Double  fee  to  make  him  sober,  calling  it 
Some  strange  disease." 

Physician,  "You  idiotic  dolt!     'Tis  '  Vinum  Colchici.'  " 
Apothecary,  "Well — " 

Physician,  "There  is  nothing  well  about  it,  save  the 
Man  himself,  and  your  confounded  dram  did  cure  him." 

The  Second  Scene 

A  poverty  stricken  garret,  in  which  are  a  poet,  his 
wife  and  an  attenuated  cat. 

The  wife  murmurs,  while  shuddering  with  cold,  of 
her  early  dreams  of  a  happy  cottage,  vine  embowered, 
and  the  Poet  says: 

"Do  not  complain,  my  wife.    'Tis  well  we  have 
A  room  to  live  in,  though  it  be  an  attic." 

Then  the  Poet,  thinking  aloud,  says: 

"  'Tis  ever  thus  with  genius.    Men  of  coarser  mold 
Can  delve  and  burrow  in  the  earth  and  satisfy  their 
Great  craving,  but  the  spirit  can  be  happy  only  in  its 
Aspirations  and  self -consciousness.    Milton  sold  his 
Poems  for  a  paltry  sum  that  any  hod  might  scorn,  well 
Knowing  he  would  live  forever,     *     *     * 
I  have  rhymed 

The  pith  of  Laon  with  the  scorching  wit  of  Attica, 
But  hark—" 
Wife,  "What  is  it?" 
Poet,  "Methought  I  heard  a  sound." 

11 


Wife,  "It  was  the  scratching  of  the  cat,  who  groans 

For  hunger.  " 

Poet,  "It  seems  to  me  a  tick  of  some  old  fashioned 

Clock,  like  that  which  stood  within  your  father's  hall." 

Wife,  "'Tis  said  approaching  death  so  lets 

Itself  be  known." 

Scene  third  is  laid  in  Phcenixville.  The  manager 
is  walking  up  and  down  his  room  with  a  copy  of  the 
"Phoenix"  in  his  hand  and  reads,  "I  will  give  a  grand 
Dramatic  entertainment  in  the  Temperance  Hall,  on 
the  1st  of  March.  The  actors  will  be  amateurs  exclu- 
sively. Those  wishing  to  participate  should  call  upon 
the  undersigned  at  2  o'clock  next  Monday  afternoon, 
prepared  to  prove  their  skill.  Decided  talent  will  be 
liberally  paid  for."  He  lays  aside  the  paper.  The  bell 
rings.    Enter  an  Irishman.    The  manager  asks: 

"Well  sir,  who  are  you?" 
Irishman,  "Be  Jabers,  I'm  a  Fanian." 
Manager,  "What  may  be  your  business  here  with  me?" 
Irishman,  "My  business,  is  it?    Faith,  I  drive  a  cart. 
A  damn  poor  trade  it  is,  I  tell  ye  that. 
The  paper  says  ye  want  some  ammytoors  to  do 
Your  actin'  for  ye,  and  be  gorry  it's  mysilf's 
The  Bye  to  do  it.    I  like  this  actin. 
It  is  moighty  fine  to  see  the  girls  hustle  around  the 
stage." 

Just  then  a  young  lady  enters  who  says  she  can  sing. 
Manager,  "Let  me  hear  you  sing." 

She  begins: 

"There  is  a  happy  land 

Far,  far  away 

Where—" 

Manager,  "Stop,  stop,  no  more  of  that." 

12 


Just  then  a  hooded  stranger  enters. 

Manager,  "And  who  are  you?" 

Stranger,  "Glamis  thou  art  and  Cawdor;  and  shall  be 

What  thou  art  promised." 

A  yokel  interrupts,  and  the  Manager  sneeringly 

asks: 

"Well,  country,  have  you  parted  with  your  oats?" 
Yokel:  "  I  hev,  ole  hoss,  I  geve  em  to  them  other  mules 
Below.    Would  you  like  to  have  some?" 

Then  an  artist  appears  who,  stalking  across  the 
room,  says: 

"I  speak  not  to  disprove  what  Brutus  spoke 
But  I  am  here  to  speak  what  I  do  know. 
You  all  did  love  him  once." 
Manager  (Rising): 

"My  friends,  this  exhibition  is  entirely  to  my  satisfac- 
tion. I  need  detain  you  now  no  longer.  I  engage  you  one 
and  all,  and  for  our  entertainment  we  will  take  the  best 
Dramatic  work  in  any  language — Shakespeare* s  Hamlet." 

That  he  retained  through  the  years  the  faculty  of 
writing  skits  appears  by  a  little  one  which  he  wrote, 
while  actually  on  the  bench  engaged  in  hearing  appli- 
cations to  the  Court  of  Quarter  Sessions  for  Liquor 
Licenses,  entitled,  Reports  of  Cases  in  the  Philadelphia 
License  Court  of  1901 :  "In  Curiam  Currente  C alamo 
Scribentur."  The  Dramatis  Personse  are  Judges  Penny- 
packer  and  McMichael,  detectives  of  the  Law  and 
Order  Society,  and  applicants  for  license — German, 
Italian,  Irish  and  the  like — innumerable. 

The  spirit  of  the  performance  is  indicated  by  the 
following  quotations  from  Milton  and  Dr.  Johnson. 
"License  they  mean  when  they  cry  liberty." 

13 


"There  is  nothing  which  has  yet  been  contrived  by  man 
by  which  so  much  happiness  is  produced  as  by  a  good 
tavern." 

Eleven  cases  are  heard  by  the  Court.     Case  2  is 

that  of  Celia  B.  Gilbert,  and  is  reported  thus: 

"Mon  cher  ami 
J'entend  un  cri — 
Der  Weber  ist  gefallen, 
Les  hommes  courirent, 
Les  femmes  soupirent, 
Und  laut  die  Schreie  schallan." 
Case    3.  "If  French  you  be 
II  fait  un  bruit 

But,  when  in  accents  loud  and  clear, 
He  tells  of  Tontorello's  beer 
The  story  lags, 

'Tis  only  Noyes."   (A  detective.) 
Case    4.     Nicholas  Pessalono. 

"And  now  there  comes  an  end  to  Pessalono's  joys 
When  a  law  and  order  agent  got  his  bottles  and 
an-Noyes." 
Case    6.     Philip  Engelke. 

"Though  small  and  scarce  the  angels  be 
McMichael  finds  an  Engel-Ke — 
Though  fortune  tap  but  once  in  a  cycle, 
She  scatters  her  favors  before  McMichael." 
Case    9.      George  Dokenwadel. 
"Dokenwadel 
Was  fur  ein  twaddle 
Abouta'boddle'? 
When  you  sell  it 
Why  not  tell  it?" 
Case  11.     Frederik  W.  Wolf. 

(A  bottler  who  sold  beer  to  the  Kensington 
Athletic  Club,  No.  3643  Market  St.) 
"On  the  Kensington  sward, 

14 


In  the  Twenty-fourth  ward, 
Are  trained  Athle-tes; 
They  stride  from  afar, 
Cling  close  to  the  bar 
And  swift  run  into  diabetes." 

By  this  time  the  Court  is  tired:  The  cultured  but 
weary  McMichael  Cantat: 

"Hold!  enough! 
Ich  hab  genug; 

Assez 

J'en  ai; 

I  hope  and  pray 

You  will  away; 

Moucho  no  sano 

Poes  es  bueno; 

Nunc  sortis  est, 

Give  us  a  rest, 

Life  is  short," 
(To  the  Crier) 

"Adjourn  the  Court." 

Exeunt  omnes. 

I  have  here  in  another  style  a  fable  after  the  manner 
of  iEsop,  A  Political  Fable: 

"Once  upon  a  time,  and  a  very  good  time  it  was, 
too,  a  trusty  Watch  Dog,  who  was  left,  in  the  absence  of 
his  master,  to  guard  the  household,  had  a  struggle  with 
a  worthless  Tramp.  The  Tramp,  worsted  in  the  contest, 
and  smarting  with  pain  and  the  sting  of  defeat,  said,  'Well, 
if  I  cannot  beat  you  I  can  at  least  give  you  a  bad  name.' 
Thereupon  he  ran  through  the  streets  and  byways  of  the 
town  crying  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  so  that  all  might  hear, 
'Bad  Dog!  Bad  Dog!'  The  credulous  people,  none  too  nice 
in  distinguishing  the  differences  in  sounds  and  deceived  into 
thinking  the  dog  was  'mad,'  set  upon  the  trusty  Watch 
Dog  and  stoned  him  to  death.    And  the  worthless  Tramp 

15 


went  on  his  way  rejoicing,  for  that  not  only  had  he  his 
revenge  from  his  defeat,  but  he  was  in  a  better  plight  for 
getting  into  the  kitchen  in  his  next  coming  into  that  town. 

SEQUEL 

The  unwary  people,  such  was  their  haste,  did  not  stone 
to  death  the  trusty  Watch  Dog,  but  another  dog  that 
chanced  to  be  passing  through  the  town  at  that  time." 

You  will  the  better  appreciate  the  humor  of  this 
piece  if  I  read  you  the  inscription  which  is  as  follows: 

"To  the 
Hon.  Matthew  Stanley  Quay, 
Long  Island,  1776, 
Fredericksburg,  1862, 
New  York,  1888, 
Washington,  1890, 
This  fable,  showing,  in  nuce,  the  results  of  the  election 
in  Pennsylvania  in  1890,  is  dedicated 
By  a  Pennsylvanian,  Proud  of  Pennsylvania  Achievement." 

In  entire  contrast  to  the  style  of  the  three  brochures 
I  have  shown  you,  indicative  of  his  light  and  playful 
humor,  I  want  now  to  read  a  passage  from  the  address 
which  he  delivered  at  Gettysburg  on  the  30th  of  May, 
1904,  in  introducing  President  Roosevelt. 

"The  presidential  office  is  so  great  a  station  among  men 
that  those  who  fill  it  are  not  to  be  regarded  as  personalities. 
Their  individuality  is  lost  in  its  immensity.  Jackson  repre- 
sented its  rough,  uncouth  and  undisciplined  strength. 
Lincoln  looms  up  above  all  other  Americans  bearing  the 
burden  of  woe  and  suffering  which  fate  laid  upon  his  broad 
shoulders  in  its  time  of  stress  and  trial.  Blessed  be  his 
memory  for  evermore!  No  people  can  look  forward  to  the 
fulfillment  of  such  a  destiny  as  events  seem  to  outline  for 
us  save  one  alert  and  eager  with  the  enthusiasm  and  vigor 

16 


of  youth.  No  other  president  has  so  stood  for  that  which 
after  all  typifies  our  life, — the  sweep  of  the  winds  over  broad 
prairies,  the  snow-capped  mountains  and  the  rushing  rivers, 
the  Sequoia  trees,  the  exuberance  of  youth  conscious  of  red 
blood,  energy  and  power  painting  our  bow  of  promise, — as 
does  Theodore  Roosevelt.  He  has  hunted  in  our  woods,  he 
has  enriched  our  literature,  he  has  ridden  in  the  face  of  the 
enemy,  he  has  maintained  our  ideals.  Upon  this  day  devoted 
to  the  memories  of  the  heroic  dead, — in  Pennsylvania,  a 
sad  Decoration  Day, — the  achievements  of  the  prolific  past 
and  the  promise  of  the  teeming  future  confront  each  other. 
To-day  for  the  first  time  Theodore  Roosevelt  treads  the 
field  made  immortal  by  the  sword  of  George  Gordon  Meade 
and  hallowed  by  the  prose  dirge  of  Abraham  Lincoln." 

Here  is  a  little  pamphlet,  which  I  cannot  stop  to 
read,  but  which  is  characteristic  of  his  bent,  entitled 
The  South  African  War  in  nuce.  It  is  a  severe 
arraignment  of  England's  attempt,  and  a  finally  suc- 
cessful attempt,  to  conquer  the  Transvaal,  but  it  is 
in  President  Pennypacker's  best  style  and  is  quite  as 
pointed  in  its  rhetoric  as  anything  could  well  be.  I 
will  quote  but  one  passage: 

"Oom  Paul  takes  his  place,  not  in  a  niche  in  the  Trans- 
vaal, but  alongside  of  Leonidas  and  Winkelried,  of  Wallace 
and  William  of  Orange,  among  the  heroes  of  old  time  and 
the  whole  world,  to  incite  the  brave  to  effort  for  the  ages 
yet  to  come.  *  *  *  Mothers  will  tell  their  children,  poets 
will  sing  the  story,  and  historians  will  write  in  their  pages 
how  the  burghers  fought  and  died  upon  the  kopjes  of  South 
Africa  to  save  their  homes." 

I  have  brought  here  the  manuscript  of  Governor 
Pennypacker's  Address  on  Anthony  Wayne,  at  the  time 
of  the  unveiling  of  the  statue  on  the  hills  of  Valley 

17 


Forge,  and  it  is  entirely  characteristic  of  his  method 
of  composition.  He  always  wrote  out  an  important 
paper  in  longhand  and  did  it  in  ink,  and  you  can  see 
with  what  fluency  he  wrote.  Very  few  corrections 
were  made.  As  he  warmed  up  in  his  task  the  hand- 
writing becomes  quite  illegible,  and  familiar  as  I  am 
with  it,  the  last  few  pages  of  this  address  are  to  me 
almost  undecipherable.  I  exhibit  this  because  it  is 
characteristic  of  his  work.  He  never  attempted  to 
dictate  addresses  but  always  wrote  in  longhand.  He 
was  as  fluent  as  a  writer  as  he  was  as  a  speaker. 

You  will  recall  that  he  also  wrote  Historical  and 
Biographical  Sketches  gathered  into  a  book,  containing 
among  other  things  his  youthful  experiences  as  a 
soldier  as  a  volunteer  in  the  Gettysburg  campaign 
entitled  Six  Weeks  in  Uniform. 

If  you  ask  for  his  more  serious  work,  I  can  touch  it 
but  lightly.  He  published  four  volumes  of  Reports  of 
the  Decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Pennsylvania, 
known  as  Pennypackers  Reports,  which  had  escaped 
the  attention  of  former  reporters,  and  which  filled  a 
gap  in  the  historical  statement  of  our  judicial  develop- 
ment. 

When  called  on  to  deliver  an  address  before  the 
Law  Academy  of  Philadelphia,  he  performed  a  task 
which  tested  his  patience  and  his  accuracy  to  the  ut- 
most. He  produced  a  small  volume  of  Colonial  Cases 
of  Pennsylvania,  which  he  dug  out  of  seventeen  vol- 
umes in  the  first  series  of  our  Colonial  Records,  a  task 
of  extraordinary  industry.    Those  volumes,  printed  on 

18 


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s* 


/i 


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AJi^y  -  f  ~fl 


-*z 


..<.•-...,-. 


thin  paper,  contain  an  average  of  450  pages  each,  and 
if  you  multiply  that  number  by  17  you  find  that  he 
examined  nearly  8000  pages  in  order  to  extract  76 
cases  which  came  judicially  before  Colonial  Judges 
between  the  time  Penn  landed  in  1682  and  the  year 
1713.  The  result  is  indicative  of  pertinacious  burrow- 
ing into  the  past,  a  labor  which  was  not  in  vain, 
because  it  rescued  that  past  and  made  it  intelligible. 

If  you  wish  to  look  at  his  judicial  labors,  or  records 
of  them,  you  will  find  them  scattered  through  the 
volumes  of  the  Philadelphia  and  District  Reports. 
He  was  not  a  judge  who  loaded  his  opinions  with  cita- 
tions of  authority.  He  was  so  well  grounded  in  prin- 
ciples that  a  clear  statement  of  the  law,  about  which 
he  felt  reasonably  certain,  was  with  him  an  emphatic 
way  of  expressing  himself.  There  are  some  judges  who 
draw  themselves  up  by  the  balustrades  of  authority, 
climbing  from  case  to  case  before  they  can  reach  the 
top.  Other  judges,  well  aware  of  a  principle,  and  having 
the  gift  of  stating  it  concisely  and  clearly,  will  satisfy 
themselves  by  direct  statement  and  an  application  to 
the  facts  found  either  by  the  verdict  of  a  jury  or  by  a 
referee.     To  this  class  Judge  Pennypacker  belonged. 

The  late  Samuel  Dickson,  as  Chancellor  of  the  Law 
Association  of  Philadelphia,  once  said  in  a  public  ad- 
dress :  "  It  is  not  possible  for  the  wit  of  man  to  exag- 
gerate the  value  to  the  community  of  having  such  a 
judge  as  Pennypacker  on  the  bench." 

When  he  became  Governor  of  the  State,  he  intro- 
duced a  style  in  official  messages  which  was  thereto- 

19 


fore  unknown.  The  public  had  paid  little  or  no  heed 
to  the  veto  messages  of  governors,  but  the  moment 
Governor  Pennypacker  began  that  extraordinary  series 
which  is  printed  in  a  separate  volume,  attention  was 
paid  not  only  to  matter  but  to  manner  all  over  the 
State  and  finally  all  over  the  country.  I  will  quote 
from  one  or  two  of  them  as  indicating  something  new 
in  state  literature.  There  was  a  bill,  but  six  or  seven 
lines  long,  that  made  it  lawful  for  a  railroad  corpora- 
tion to  sell  a  part  or  parts  of  its  corporate  plant  to  any 
other  railroad  corporation. 

The  Governor  vetoed  it  in  these  words: 

"The  purpose  of  this  bill  is  to  enable  any  railroad  cor- 
poration to  convey  a  part  or  parts  of  its  railroad  and  the 
franchises  to  any  other  railroad  having  a  railroad  connecting 
with  such  part  or  parts.  There  is  no  attempt  to  define  what 
shall  constitute  a  part.  There  was  once  a  man  who  was  cut 
into  pieces.  One  piece  consisted  of  a  fragment  of  his  finger 
nail,  the  other  piece  was  the  rest  of  his  body." 

There  was  an  Act  of  Assembly  sent  to  his  table  to 
prohibit  spitting  under  penalty  of  fine  and  imprison- 
ment.    The  Governor  vetoed  it  in  this  language: 

"The  purpose  of  the  bill  appears  to  be  an  effort  to  make 
people  nice  and  cleanly  in  their  habits  by  legislation.  It 
is  not  confined  to  those  who  have  consumption  or  other 
diseases  which  may  be  so  transmitted.  There  are  certain 
inconveniences  which  necessarily  result  from  association 
with  our  fellows  and  which  have  to  be  endured.  There  is 
an  effluvia,  more  or  less  disagreeable,  from  every  living 
person.  There  is  an  exudation  from  every  pore  of  the  skin. 
There  are  conditions  under  which  spitting  is  almost  impos- 
sible to  restrain.    Among  the  thousands  of  people  who  go  to 

20 


a  circus,  one  or  more  may  have  a  cold;  catarrh,  or  sudden 
contact  between  the  teeth  and  tongue  may  cause  a  flow  of 
saliva.  Imprisonment  seems  to  be  severe  punishment  for 
yielding  to  what  cannot  always  be  prevented.  If  spittoons 
were  provided,  there  would  be  a  stronger  reason  for  such 
legislation.  Upon  the  whole,  while  it  must  be  conceded  that 
spitting  is  not  nice,  pleasant  or  polite,  it  seems  to  me  that 
it  would  be  better  to  leave  the  cure  of  a  bad  habit  to  the 
gradual  development  of  a  better  taste  and  higher  culture 
rather  than  to  attempt  a  regulation  by  law,  in  the  shape  of 
an  enactment  which  imposes  imprisonment,  instead  of  a 
well  digested  health  regulation." 

A  bill  authorized  the  sheriff  of  every  county  in  the 
Commonwealth  to  run  down  suspected  murderers  by 
bloodhounds.    The  Governor  vetoed  it  in  these  words: 

"The  purpose  of  this  bill  is  to  authorize  the  sheriff  of 
every  county  whose  population  does  not  exceed  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  to  acquire  and  maintain  two  blood- 
hounds which  shall  be  used  only  to  pursue  a  person  or  persons 
charged  with  murder  or  felony.  It  is  far  better  that  a  person 
charged  with  crime  should  escape  than  that  the  means  pro- 
vided for  in  this  Act  should  be  used  for  his  capture." 

From  this  Volume  of  Veto  Messages  I  am  simply 
picking  out  a  few  instances  showing  the  range  of  his 
activity.  The  Legislature  had  passed  an  act  prohibit- 
ing the  killing  of  bears  with  any  other  weapon  than  a 
gun  and  at  any  other  time  of  the  year  except  the  month 
of  November.     The  Governor  said: 

"The  bear  is  an  animal  not  always  of  a  gentle  disposition 
and  especially  if  it  be  a  female  bear  with  cubs.  If  a  man 
wandering  in  the  woods  is  attacked  by  such  a  bear  in  some 
other  month  than  November  what  is  he  to  do?  Bears  are 
sometimes  the  aggressors  and  prove  to  be  injurious  to  the 

21 


crops  and  the  sheep  pen  of  the  farmer.  Is  he  not  to  be  per- 
mitted to  protect  his  property  save  in  the  month  of  Novem- 
ber? The  bill  provides  that  no  bear  is  to  be  killed  excepting 
with  firearms.  Should  the  woodsman  be  attacked  by  a 
bear  while  cutting  down  trees  in  the  woods,  may  he  not 
use  his  axe?" 

I  happened  to  be  present  at  the  time  that  he  for- 
mulated his  views  with  regard  to  this  bill,  and  I  begged 
him  not  to  change  the  first  draft.  He  thought  the 
form  crude  and  beneath  the  dignity  of  a  message  to 
the  Legislature,  but  the  way  it  originally  occurred  was 
this.    He  said : 

"I  herewith  return  without  my  approval  Senate  Bill 
No.  236  which  makes  it  a  crime,  punishable  by  fine  and 
imprisonment,  to  kill  a  bear  in  any  other  month  of  the  year 
than  November  and  with  any  other  weapon  than  a  gun. 
Suppose  a  man  chopping  wood,  with  an  axe  in  his  hand,  is 
attacked  by  a  bear  in  the  month  of  July?  The  bear  won't 
wait  until  November  and  won't  let  him  go  and  get  a  gun." 

Here  is  a  veto  message  of  a  totally  different  kind, 
and  it  is  one  of  which  the  Governor  felt  proud.  A  bill 
had  been  introduced  to  enlarge  the  powers  of  condem- 
nation enjoyed  by  railroads  in  taking  properties,  in- 
cluding those  occupied,  in  whole  or  in  part,  as  dwell- 
ings by  the  owners.    The  Governor  wrote  as  follows: 

"When  the  land  of  a  citizen  is  taken  by  a  railroad  it  is 
taken  by  the  Commonwealth,  because  the  public  necessities 
require  the  sacrifice.  Is  it  then  more  to  the  interest  of  the 
Commonwealth  that  there  should  be  an  absolutely  straight 
line  between  New  York  or  Chicago,  because  that  is  the  logical 
end  toward  which  one  alternative  takes  us,  or  is  it  more  to 
the  interest  of  the  Commonwealth  that  the  citizen  should 
be  permitted  to  rear  his  family  at  his  own  fireside  undis- 

22 


turbed,  with  all  that  this  means  for  the  preservation  of  the 
race  and  its  virtues?  It  seems  to  me  that  it  is  possible  to 
take  a  middle  course  to  avoid  both  Scylla  and  Charybdis 
and  to  this  extent  at  least  to  put  the  exercise  of  the  right 
of  eminent  domain  where  in  principle  it  belongs.  There  may 
be  a  house  about  which  there  can  be  no  sentiment  and  little 
value  owned  by  a  man  without  family,  which  he  proposes 
to  sell  at  an  enormous  price  because  it  stands  in  the  line  of 
a  great  public  improvement.  There  may  be  a  home  typical 
of  all  that  is  good  in  American  life,  around  which  cluster  the 
associations  of  centuries  and  which  ought  to  be  preserved 
regardless  of  trade.  There  may  be  a  railroad  organized  at  a 
venture  without  public  need,  destined  to  end  in  failure  after 
the  destruction  of  much  which  is  more  useful  than  itself. 
Is  it  wise  to  leave  the  determination  of  what  ought  to  be 
saved  and  what  may  be  destroyed  to  a  board  of  interested 
directors?  Is  it  wise  to  have  judgment  rendered  by  one  of 
the  parties?  The  bill  ought  to  have  provided  for  a  tribunal 
representing  the  State  which  could  decide  upon  the  necessity 
and  while  being  just  to  the  railroad,  could  protect  the  citizen. 
If  we  are  to  go  further  with  the  grants  of  the  right  to  take 
private  property,  and  any  one  who  has  kept  pace  with 
recently  projected  legislation  can  see  whither  we  are  else 
drifting,  some  such  plan  ought  to  be  adopted." 

Those  words — "Is  it  wise  to  have  judgment  ren- 
dered by  one  of  the  parties?" — are  indicative  of  the 
judicial  attitude  which  he  preserved  in  the  Governor's 
chair  throughout  his  entire  course.  I  recollect  being  in 
the  Governor's  room  one  morning  when  the  Deputy 
Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth  brought  a  pile  of 
commissions  and  spread  them  on  the  table  for  the 
Governor's  signature.  The  Governor  said:  "What  are 
these?"  "Commissions,  sir."  "Commissions  of  whom?" 
"Railway  and  iron  police."    "  Who  are  they? "    "  Why, 

23 


Governor,  you  know  that  it  is  usual  for  the  Governor 
of  Pennsylvania  to  commission  a  number  of  men  in 
order  to  preserve  order  in  case  of  violence  around 
properties,  factories,  mines  or  other  places  where  strikers 
are  assembling."  "Who  sent  the  names  here  for  the 
commissions?  I  have  not  seen  them  before,  and  you 
have  got  the  commissions  filled  up."  "The  names  were 
suggested."  "Suggested  by  whom?"  "They  are  sent 
here  by  the  companies  themselves."  He  said:  "I  want 
it  understood  from  this  time  out  that  I  never  will  sign 
a  commission  which  puts  the  power  to  arrest  or  the 
sovereignty  of  the  State  in  the  hands  of  any  appointee 
or  nominee  of  one  of  the  parties  to  any  controversy." 
Out  of  that  fair  attitude  arose  our  independent  State 
Constabulary,  modeled  on  the  Canadian  Police,  which 
has  been  the  finest  and  most  efficient  force  in  the  main- 
tenance of  law  and  order  throughout  this  Common- 
wealth. Governor  Pennypacker  is  entitled  to  the  credit 
of  having  then  and  there  conceived  the  idea  of  an  in- 
dependent body  which  should  stand  between  the 
striker  and  the  property  owner,  and  thus  prevent  a 
frequent  cause  of  bloodshed  and  violence,  where  strikers 
became  irritated  by  finding  they  were  shot  at,  or  threat- 
ened to  be  shot  at  by  men  whom  they  knew  to  be  in  the 
employ  of  the  opposite  party  to  the  controversy.  The 
incident  is  characteristic  of  his  whole  attitude  through- 
out his  governorship. 

I  turn  to  him  in  another  capacity,  that  of  a  col- 
lector, and  I  have  brought  here  a  few  of  the  catalogues 
of  his  collections  to  indicate  to  you  the  character  of 

24 


work  that  he  did.  I  will  read  an  extract  from  the  pref- 
ace, and  it  is  worthy  of  being  read  because  written  by 
Mr.  Henkels,  who  is  an  expert  and  well  knows  what 
he  is  cataloguing: 

"This  collection  is  a  magnificent  monument  to  the 
usefulness  of  the  antiquary,  in  the  preservation  of 
documents  and  tomes  which  would  probably  have  been 
destroyed  through  the  carelessness  of  their  owners, 
had  not  his  forethought  seen  their  use  as  records  of 
history  and  mementoes  of  those  who  were  great,  and 
likely  to  be  forgotten  but  for  these  mute  witnesses  of 
their  one-time  existence.  Hours,  days,  weeks,  months 
and  years  has  Governor  Pennypacker  spent  in  untiring 
research.  No  manuscript  was  too  discolored  for  him 
to  pass  over  carelessly,  no  volume  too  unpretentious 
for  him  to  cast  aside  without  first  examining  its  con- 
tents, as  well  as  any  inscriptions  which  might  appear 
thereon.  Consequently,  we  have  here  a  really  wonder- 
ful gathering  of  Manuscripts,  Diaries,  and  Common- 
.  place  Books  of  many  of  the  most  important  personages 
of  Colonial  and  Revolutionary  times — books  from  the 
libraries  of  great  Generals,  Statesmen,  Divines,  Poets 
and  others;  elegantly  Illuminated  Vellum  Missals, 
Church  Chorals,  and  Antiphonalias." 

I  will  now  call  your  attention  to  one  or  two  notes, 
written  by  Governor  Pennypacker  himself,  descriptive 
of  the  books,  suggestive  of  the  extraordinary  learning 
which  he  carried  in  a  modest  and  unobtrusive  way. 

Here  is  a  folio  which  is  a  record  of  the  Supreme 
Court  held  at  Philadelphia  for  the  Province  of  Pennsyl- 

25 


vania  before  John  Kinsey,  Chief  Justice  in  the  year 
1743,  and  associates  Thomas  Graeme  and  William  Till. 
"This  folio  contains  the  names  of  303  German  res- 
idents of  Philadelphia,  Chester,  Bucks  and  Lancaster 
Counties,  naturalized  by  the  Supreme  Court.  Hilde- 
burn  attributes  it  to  Joseph  Crellius  who,  Thomas  says, 
printed  a  newspaper  for  some  years,  but  if  printed  by 
him  it  is  the  only  specimen  of  his  work  known  to  exist. 
My  belief  is  that  it  was  printed  by  Benjamin  Franklin 
and  that  Crellius  was  only  a  German  agent  for  that 
shrewd  man  of  business.  A  comparison  of  type  and 
paper  shows  that  they  are  identical  with  those  used  by 
Franklin.  If  Crellius  had  a  printing  office  it  is  remark- 
able that  no  book  or  pamphlet  printed  by  him  is  known. 
Hildeburn  had  never  seen  a  copy."  You  observe 
that  his  eye  was  like  that  of  a  bank  clerk  detecting 
something  suspicious  in  the  appearance  of  a  bank  note. 

Another  number  consists  of  "A  New  Guide  to  the 
English  Tongue  in  Five  Parts,"  and  Governor  Penny- 
packer  writes :  "This  is  in  a  rather  imperfect  condition, 
but  it  is  the  only  copy  known.  It  contains  the  twelve 
Fables  of  yEsop  with  all  the  wood  cuts  and  is  the  first 
Franklin  issue  with  illustrations,  and  the  first  American 
Edition  of  .Esop's  Fables." 

He  acquired  a  highly  valuable  historical  collection 
of  twenty-one  autograph  letters,  twelve  being  originals 
by  Franklin  and  nine  by  his  son  William  Franklin,  the 
Colonial  Governor  of  New  Jersey. 

When  in  London  in  1898,  he  acquired  an  original 
portrait  of  Benjamin  Franklin  drawn  in  pencil  by  Ben- 


jamin  West,  sold  at  the  dissipation  of  the  West  collec- 
tion. He  had  it  framed  in  wood  taken  from  the  origi- 
nal floor  of  Independence  Hall  during  the  restoration  of 
the  building  in  1898.  At  the  same  time  he  acquired  the 
Wedgwood  portrait  of  Franklin  in  porcelain. 

With  regard  to  books  having  personal  associations, 
I  find  that  he  had  Peter  Lloyd's  copy  of  the  second 
Bradford's  Laws  of  Pennsylvania  printed  in  the  year 
1728  and  sold  by  Andrew  Bradford.  It  was  a  compila- 
tion made  by  David  Lloyd,  the  first  of  our  great  Com- 
moners in  Pennsylvania,  who  fought  the  fight  of  the 
people  against  Penn,  just  as  Franklin  did  later  against 
the  Penn  family,  and  contains  in  addition  the  Acts  of 
the  Session  of  1728-9.  The  Governor  wrote:  "This  is 
the  second  collection  of  Pennsylvania  Laws,  with  the 
autographs  on  the  title  page  of  Peter  Lloyd  in  1729  and 
William  Lloyd  in  1759.  The  original  owner  had  bound 
in  it,  for  notes,  a  lot  of  paper,  nineteen  folios  of  which 
are  not  written  on,  and  it  happens  that  this  paper  was 
made  at  the  Rittenhouse  Paper  Mill  on  the  Wissa- 
hickon,  the  first  in  America.  The  watermark  is  a  clover 
leaf,  which  was  the  town  seal  of  Germantown,  and  the 
initials  K.  R.  stand  for  Klaus  Rittenhouse;  probably 
the  largest  amount  of  paper  of  that  kind  unused  in 
existence." 

He  secured  a  book  with  which  I  was  quite  familiar 
when  a  boy:  Hickey's  Edition  of  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States,  together  with  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  compiled  with  notes  and  largely  used 

by  Senators  and  Members  of  Congress.    This  copy  had 

n 


written  in  it  in  his  own  proper  autograph  the  name  of 
"Jefferson  Davis,  28th  December,  1848,"  and  stamped 
on  the  outside  was  "Honorable  Jefferson  Davis,  Senator 
United  States,  Mississippi."  Governor  Penny  packer 
wrote  "His  book  and  little  good  did  it  do  him." 

Here  is  Melancthon's  Copy  of  Virgil,  described  as 
follows : 

MELANCTHON.  Virgil  "Georgicorum  P.  Vir- 
gilii  Maronis  liber  cum  novo  commentario  Hermanni 
Torrentini."    4to,  original  edges,  modern  boards. 

Impressum  Argentine  Ioanni  Knoblouch,  Anno 
Domini  MDVIII. 

"  Melancthon's  copy  with  his  numerous  interlinea- 
tions and  notes:  From  the  celebrated  library  (with 
book-plate)  of  Georgius  Kloss,  M.  D.  Francofurti  ad 
Maenum.  25/1508." 

Here  is  a  book  from  the  Library  of  William  Penn : 

"PENN.  A  Treatise  of  the  Corruption  of  Scrip- 
ture, Counsels  and  Fathers,  by  the  Prelates,  Pastors, 
and  Pillars  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  for  maintenance 
of  Popery  and  irreligion  by  Thomas  James  Samm  4to, 
old  calf." 

He  also  acquired  Abraham  Lincoln's  fee  book.  It 
is  the  original  autograph  fee  book  of  the  law  firm  of 
Lincoln  &  Herndon  of  the  year  1847,  and  contains 
thirty-eight  pages,  twelve  in  the  handwriting  of  Lin- 
coln and  twenty-six  in  the  handwriting  of  Mr.  Herndon. 

I  might  go  on  indefinitely,  but  let  me  read  to  you  a 
general  description  of  this  great  collection  of  books  by 
a  man  who  for  years  was  familiar  with  it : 

28 


"The  Governor  was  a  general  collector  of  Ameri- 
cana. Of  course  he  adhered  more  strictly  to  items  re- 
lating to  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  and  especially  to 
early  printers  of  that  State,  as  also  to  Books  relating 
to  the  Mennonites  and  the  Moravians.  During  the 
forty-five  or  fifty  years  of  his  collecting,  within  my 
memory,  and  I  think  he  commenced  that  collecting 
about  the  time  I  went  into  business,  he  accumulated 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  collections  of  books  and 
pamphlets  printed  by  Benjamin  Franklin,  and  owned 
at  that  time  by  any  private  individual." 

The  second  collection  is  of  personal  association 
books,  manuscript  commonplace  books  and  diaries. 
Part  three  embraces  his  collection  of  books  and  pam- 
phlets on  the  history  of  Pennsylvania.  Part  four  em- 
braces a  collection  of  books  relating  to  general  Ameri- 
can history.  Part  five  embraces  a  collection  of  books 
relating  to  the  Quakers  and  the  publications  of  the 
Sower  press  of  Germantown,  and  the  early  presses  of 
the  inland  towns  of  Pennsylvania.  In  that  collection 
was  a  complete  set  of  the  Seven  New  Testaments 
published  by  Christopher  Sower,  printed  from  1745  to 
1775.  It  was  the  only  complete  set  in  existence.  An- 
other item  was  "Truth  Advanced  in  the  Correction 
of  many  gross  and  hurtful  errors"  by  George  Keith, 
printed  in  the  year  1694.  Part  six  contained  his  col- 
lection of  autograph  letters,  caricatures,  broadsides, 
portraits  and  views.  Part  seven  was  a  collection  of 
publications  from  the  press  of  Robert  Bell,  of  the 
Ephrata  Society  and  early  American  printers.     Part 

29 


eight  embraced  his  books  relating  to  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania  and  works  generally  on  bibliography. 

By  consent  of  the  State  Librarian  I  am  permitted 
to  read  a  letter  which  he  sent  me : 

"Some  time  ago  I  was  requested  by  the  Mennonites 
to  secure  for  them  the  first  edition  of  the  works 
of  Menno  Simons.  It  was  found  that  the  only  known 
copy  was  in  the  Royal  Library  at  The  Hague.  I  wrote 
and  asked  the  Librarian  whether  he  would  have  it 
photographed  or  whether  he  would  allow  me  to  have 
the  book  and  have  a  photographic  copy  made.  Very 
much  to  my  surprise  the  book  was  sent  here  and  the 
Mennonite  Committee  has  expressed  its  satisfaction, 
inasmuch  as  they  would  have  been  led  into  grievous 
error  without  having  had  access  to  this  particular  vol- 
ume. When  I  told  Governor  Pennypacker  about  it  he 
said,  'You  did  a  wrong  thing.  The  book  might  now 
be  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  and  all  trace  of  the  matter 
would  then  have  been  lost.'  I  remarked,  'Suppose  the 
Germans  had  gone  into  Holland  instead  of  into  Bel- 
gium, what  would  have  become  of  the  volume?'  His 
reply  was,  'Montgomery,  you  can  always  justify  your- 
self in  any  wrong  that  you  perpetrate.'  Then  he 
added,  with  quite  as  characteristic  a  touch  as  the  other, 
'Inasmuch  as  you  have  the  book  and  have  a  copy 
made  I  would  like  to  have  one.' '  Mr.  Montgomery 
adds:  "He  spoke  in  French,  Dutch  and  German,  and 
read  Latin  and  Greek  fluently.  I  have  taken  very 
badly  written  early  German  manuscripts  to  him  and 
he  would  read  them  off  without  the  slightest  trouble, 
commenting  in  his  quaint  way  as  he  passed  along." 

30 


Before  I  tell  an  anecdote  which  illustrates  some  of 
the  experiences  he  had  in  collecting,  let  me  read  a  little 
further  from  Mr.  Montgomery  of  whom  I  asked  some 
description  of  Governor  Pennypacker's  activity  in  book 
lore:  "I  very  often  examined  his  books  and  some  7,000 
are  still  in  the  possession  of  the  family.  These  comprise 
all  the  writings  relative  to  the  Perkiomen  Valley  and 
everything  alluding  to  the  Pennypacker  family  and 
any  of  its  ramifications.  A  few  years  ago  the  Schwenk- 
felders  formed  a  commission  to  print  all  the  works  of 
Emanuel  Schwenkfeld  consisting  of  some  96  different 
titles.  A  representative  was  sent  abroad  who  went  all 
the  way  up  the  Rhine  into  Switzerland  and  he  brought 
back  50  out  of  the  96.  Some  one  happened  to  mention 
this  matter  to  the  Governor  who  gravely  remarked, 
'Why  didn't  they  come  to  me?  I  have  90  of  the  96  in 
my  own  collection.' 

"Among  the  books  he  allowed  to  go  at  the  time  of 
the  sale  was  a  beautiful  copy  of  one  of  the  rarest  of 
the  Franklin  imprints,  'An  essay  on  the  Dry-Gripes' 
by  Thomas  Cadwalader;  one  of  the  earliest  medical 
treatises  written  and  published  in  America.  He  had 
a  large  collection  of  Poor  Richard  Almanacs,  the  one 
for  1739  brought  $215  and  it  was  not  up  to  that  time 
in  the  Library  of  the  Historical  Society.  He  had  the 
original  manuscript  hymn-book  of  Johannis  Kelpius 
and  the  other  hermits  of  the  Wissahickon;  the  original 
manuscript  fee  book  of  the  law  firm  of  Lincoln  & 
Herndon,  containing  12  pages  written  by  the  Emanci- 
pator and  the  balance  being  in  the  hand  of  his  partner; 

si 


The  Disputatio  Inauguratio  of  Francis  Daniel  Pasto- 
rius,  written  upon  his  graduation  in  law,  the  only  known 
copy;  the  original  autobiography  of  Robert  Proud 
with  two  drawings  of  himself;  a  unique  volume  of 
pamphlets  gathered  and  bound  by  General  Washing- 
ton with  his  autograph  and  bookplate,  containing  'A 
prayer  for  the  benefit  of  the  soldiery  in  the  American 
Army'  by  Leonard;  the  original  plans  of  the  encamp- 
ment at  Valley  Forge  1777-78,  describing  the  forces 
under  Lord  Sterling  and  Lafayette;  the  excessively 
rare  first  map  of  Pennsylvania  published  in  London  in 
1690  by  Thomas  Holme,  now  in  the  State  Library;  and 
Bradford's  'Laws  of  Pennsylvania,'  1714.  All  of  the 
earlier  printed  laws  were  represented  in  his  collection. 
He  had  also  'Some  letters  and  an  abstract  of  letters 
from  Pennsylvania, '  one  of  three  known  copies  printed 
and  sold  by  Andrew  Sower,  1691;  William  Smith's 
'Historical  account  of  the  expedition  against  the  Ohio 
Indians'  originally  attributed  to  Thomas  Hutchings, 
London,  1766;  the  valuable  works  by  Peter  Plockhoy, 
'The  Way  to  Peace,  a  settlement  of  this  Nation,' ad- 
dressed to  Cromwell,  and  'Kort  En  Claer,'  Count 
Zinzendorf's  copy;  Dr.  William  Smith's  'Brief  State 
of  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania,'  with  his  autobio- 
graphical notes;  Henry  Dearborn's  original  manu- 
script orderly  book  at  Valley  Forge,  1778;  Morgan 
Edwards '  '  Material  Towards  the  History  of  the  Ameri- 
can Baptists';  Luden's  'Selection  of  the  most  interest- 
ing narratives  of  outrages  committed  by  the  Indians 
in  their  Wars  with  the  White  People,'  Carlisle,  1808; 

32 


Charles  Thompson's  'Enquiry  into  the  Causes  of  the 
Alienation  of  the  Delaware  and  Shawanees  Indians 
from  the  British  Interest,'  a  fine  clean  copy  with  the 
map  and  original  covers,  bound  in  London,  1759; 
David  Vries  'Corte  Historiael  ende  Journaels,'  one  of 
the  rarest  of  books." 

That  in  a  general  way  indicates  not  only  the  line 
and  direction  of  his  collecting  but  also  its  extraordinary 
breadth  and  the  way  in  which  he  brought  together 
large  collections  so  as  to  focus  light  on  Pennsylvania 
history. 

I  recall  being  at  a  dinner  where  a  number  of 
collectors  were  present,  in  fact  it  was  called  The 
Crank  Club,  in  which  each  man  was  called  on  to 
narrate  some  particular  experience  of  his  own  in  the 
matter  of  collecting.  Governor  Pennypacker  said 
that  he  had  noticed  in  a  catalogue  of  Davis  &  Harvey 
a  letter  of  Ephraim  Blaine,  grandfather  of  James  G. 
Blaine,  addressed  to  James  Wilson,  the  first  professor 
of  law  in  our  University  of  Pennsylvania,  a  signer  of 
The  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  also  one  of  the 
framers  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States; 
having  great  admiration  for  both  the  writer  and  the 
addressee,  he  wished  to  become  the  owner  of  that  letter. 
The  price,  however,  soared  out  of  his  reach.  He  did 
not  know  who  the  buyer  was  by  name  but  he  noticed 
to  whom  it  had  been  knocked  down  by  the  auctioneer. 
Somewhat  disappointed,  he  strolled  down  town  to 
Leary's,  and  in  turning  over  books  came  across  the 
second  edition  of  Poe's  Poems.     He  bought  it  for  a 

S3 


trifle,  somewhat  less  than  a  dollar,  slipped  it  in  his 
pocket,  walked  up  Chestnut  Street  and,  finding  that 
the  auctioneer's  flag  was  still  out,  again  ascended  the 
stairs.  In  going  up  he  met  the  man  who  had  purchased 
the  Wilson  letter  coming  down  and  happened  to  over- 
hear him  say  to  a  friend  at  his  side  "I  wonder  why  it 
is  that  the  second  edition  of  Poe's  poems  is  so  scarce? 
It  never  seems  to  turn  up."  The  Governor  drew  it 
out  of  his  pocket  and  said  "Would  you  like  to  look  at 
one?"  and  he  said  "I  saw  his  mouth  water,  and  he 
finally  said  to  me  'Will  you  part  with  it?"'  "Well," 
said  the  Governor,  "perhaps."  "What  do  you  think 
it  would  be  worth?"  Said  he,  "I  think  it  would  be 
worth  exchanging  for  a  letter  from  Ephraim  Blaine  to 
James  Wilson,"  and,  he  concluded,  "We  made  the  ex- 
change and  each  one  was  satisfied." 

As  to  his  artistic  side  I  wrote  to  an  artist  who  knew 
him  well,  and  who  is  more  than  an  artist,  being  an  his- 
torian and  somewhat  of  a  publicist,  and  he  wrote  me 
this  letter: 

"Covering  a  number  of  years  in  which  Governor  Penny- 
packer  came  to  my  studio  I  learned  that  he  always  had  the 
real  facts  concerning  the  books  he  was  after.  I  recall  many 
instances  of  his  intimate  knowledge  of  books  he  wanted, 
particularly  one  relating  to  a  volume  I  gave  no  value  to, 
and  he  afterwards  showed  an  interest  in  it.  I  asked  him 
why  he  wanted  it,  and  he  said  he  saw  an  advertisement 
several  years  ago  in  a  publication  of  a  book  in  Scotland 
that  such  a  book  would  be  published  in  Philadelphia,  and 
had  been  on  the  lookout  for  it  for  years. 

"While  I  was  not  interested  in  the  character  of  books 
he  collected,  he  surprised  me  with  his  intimate  knowledge 

34 


of  what  he  did  want,  even  though  he  had  not  discovered 
or  seen  them,  and,  while  he  had  the  practical  Pennsylvania 
German  thrift  in  his  purchases,  he  had  the  intelligence  to 
pay  for  rare  things  when  they  came  to  him,  but  again,  only 
what  he  wanted;  the  commercial  side  was  of  no  importance 
to  him.  He  purchased  no  bargains  for  a  possible  larger 
return.  He  was  a  collector  first  and  last  with  a  definite 
object  in  view,  and  to  fulfil  some  well  defined  purpose. 

"In  my  relations  with  him  during  his  sittings  for  his 
portrait  at  Pennypacker  Mills,  the  impression  he  gave  me 
was  of  a  man  contented  in  mind  and  body — great  pride  in 
his  office,  and  an  interest  in  his  ancestry  which  in  him  with 
his  democratic  makeup  was  hard  to  define.  Mr.  Justice 
Brown  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  said  to 
me  that  the  greatest  sticklers  for  precedence  in  Washington 
that  he  knew  of  were  Mr.  Justice  Harlan  and  Speaker 
Cannon,  notwithstanding  their  apparent  democratic  de- 
meanor, and  this  I  feel  was  true  of  Pennypacker.  Our 
friend  was  a  character  of  a  past  time,  and  in  studying  him, 
you  could  almost  conceive  of  a  man,  perhaps  one  of  the 
first  German  settlers,  suddenly  brought  into  modern  con- 
ditions; that  is  in  his  relation  to  art,  that  is  the  impression 
he  gave. 

"He  was  pre-eminently  a  primitive,  with  all  the  natural 
innocence  that  goes  with  the  quaint  and  really  artistic 
production  of  the  early  German  settlers.  In  his  apparently 
cold  house  on  North  15th  Street,  and  his  Pennypacker 
Mills  home,  with  its  utter  lack  of  what  is  termed  artistic 
decoration  to-day,  he  unconsciously  possessed  a  delightful, 
and  to  my  mind  an  artistic  simplicity,  heightened  by  a 
few  prints  and  decorations  such  as  an  early  Pennsylvanian 
German  may  have  had.  His  preference  was  for  such  en- 
gravers as  Dawkins  and  Norman,  and  I  recall  his  intense 
satisfaction  when  he  acquired  the  rare  print  of  Dickinson, 
done  I  believe  by  Dawkins,  a  quaint,  interesting  and  honest 
effort  of  the  engraver's  limited  talents  and  opportunities. 
His  tendency  was  entirely  in  this  direction,  not  only  in 

S5 


prints,  but  in  pottery  and  pewter;  it  saved  him  from  the 
meretricious  in  modern  things,  and  his  surroundings  were 
harmonious  and  consistent  with  his  temperament.  It 
would  have  been  a  pity  to  have  educated  him  out  of  it, 
even  if  that  were  possible. 

"He  was  a  keen  lover  of  the  natural  beauties  surrounding 
his  home  at  Pennypacker  Mills.  I  recall  while  sitting  on  a 
low  bench  with  him  on  a  low  bank  of  the  Perkiomen  his 
discussion  of  the  splendid  surroundings,  and  how  he  had 
acquired  the  opposite  shore  of  the  creek,  so  that  its  beauty 
should  not  be  marred  by  so-called  modern  improvements. 
Yours  very  sincerely, 

Albert  Rosenthal." 

Of  his  love  of  books,  and  the  general  character  of 
his  reading,  permit  me  to  add  a  few  words.  I  have 
examined  three  notebooks  in  his  own  handwriting 
which  contain  the  record  of  his  literary  studies.  They 
begin  in  October,  1863,  and  close,  without  omission  of 
a  single  year,  in  1916.  They  combine  the  features  of 
commonplace  books,  anthologies,  quotations  of  strik- 
ing passages  both  in  prose  and  poetry,  with  careful 
lists  of  the  authors  read,  the  number  of  pages  contained 
in  each,  arranged  under  appropriate  headings.  They 
embrace  Greek,  Latin,  French,  German,  Dutch,  Italian 
and  Spanish  as  well  as  English  books,  carefully  sum- 
marized. In  1863,  he  read  a  total  of  21,130  pages,  of 
which  5336  were  in  law,  and  15,794  in  general  litera- 
ture. In  the  former,  Coke-Littleton,  Blackstone,  Kent, 
Sir  William  Jones,  Burlamaqui,  and  Williams  alter- 
nated with  Voltaire,  Rousseau,  Des  Cartes,  Hobbes, 
Locke,  Hume,  Goethe,  Spenser,  Byron,  Dryden,  Pope, 
Wordsworth,  Tennyson,  Chaucer  and  Swinburne.    Dur- 

36 


ing  the  succeeding  years,  he  fell  but  little  below  this 
average.  Even  while  he  was  Governor,  oppressed  with 
affairs  of  State,  he  refreshed  himself  with  literature, 
reading  the  Bible  from  cover  to  cover  for  the  fourth 
time;  in  1904  reading  27,934  pages,  of  which  1321  were 
in  German,  48  in  Dutch,  and  216  in  Italian.  In  1906, 
while  still  in  office,  he  ran  the  figures  up  to  31,578  pages, 
of  which  779  were  in  German  and  1002  in  French. 
His  list  for  that  year  includes  all  of  Shakespeare's 
English  Historical  Plays,  Henry  IV,  V,  VI,  VII,  VIII, 
King  John,  Richard  II  and  Richard  III.  In  that  year 
as  in  former  ones,  he  filled  pages  with  quotations  from 
what  he  had  read.  In  1910,  while  at  Pennypacker's 
Mills,  he  filled  89  pages  with  extracts  from  Latin, 
French  and  old  English  authors.  In  1916,  while  sick 
and  suffering,  he  read  Poe,  Macaulay,  Bayard  Taylor's 
novels  Joseph  and  the  Story  of  Kennett,  the  Life 
of  Menno  Simon,  Charles  Francis  Adams'  Autobiog- 
raphy, Trollope,  and  Koster's  Secrets  of  German 
Success.  Through  all  the  years,  at  frequently  recur- 
ring intervals  he  returned  to  Bunyan,  Milton  and 
Thomas  a  Kempis. 

The  two  following  letters,  which  I  will  read,  show 
how  strongly  he  clung  to  his  favorite  ideals,  and  how 
lofty  those  ideals  were.  Just  a  word  as  to  how  these 
letters  came  to  be  written. 

Mr.  Albert  Mordell,  a  member  of  the  Philadelphia 
bar,  some  years  ago  wrote  a  very  extraordinary  little 
brochure  entitled  "The  Shifting  of  Literary  Values." 
He  followed   that  by  another  work  called   "Waning 

37 


Classics"  in  which  he  maintained  the  thesis  that  as 
Dante,  Milton,  John  Bunyan,  Thomas  a  Kempis  and 
Thomas  Aquinas  in  their  great  works  represent  very 
largely  an  antiquated,  worn  out,  mediaeval  faith,  their 
value  from  a  literary  point  of  view  was  passing  away, 
and  that  you  could  no  longer  attempt  to  classify  them 
among  the  great  poets  if  you  define  poetry  as  an  art 
which  should  have  effect  on  human  life  or  human  con- 
duct, and  he  sent  copies  of  his  papers  to  Governor 
Pennypacker,  whose  replies  I  will  read  because  they 
indicate  how  profoundly  the  Governor  thought  on  sub- 
jects which  are  somewhat  outside  a  busy  man's  duties. 

Philadelphia,  July  23,  1912. 
"Dear  Mr.  Mordell: — 

"I  read  very  carefully  your  brochure  upon  'The  Shift- 
ing of  Literary  Values,'  and  I  thank  you  for  your  courtesy 
in  sending  it  to  me. 

"The  paper  indicates  wide  and  industrious  reading,  and 
manifests  a  courage  to  think  out  and  express  your  own  con- 
victions upon  important  subjects.  To  a  certain  extent  I 
agree  with  your  conclusions.  The  importance  of  every  book 
must  be  more  or  less  affected  by  an  ascertainment  of  the 
fact  that  the  views  it  expresses  are  incorrect.  Your  thesis 
is  that  literature  'having  been  the  depository  of  men's 
thoughts  in  the  past  must  wane  in  artistic  value  if  the  world 
has  discovered  that  these  ideas  were  false.'  The  soundness 
of  this  proposition  depends  upon  two  assumptions,  first: 
that  the  world  has  so  discovered,  and  second:  that  artistic 
value  depends  upon  present  utility.  It  seems  to  me  that 
we  cannot  be  quite  sure  of  either  of  these  conditions.  An 
India  shawl  may  be  admired  by  a  woman  in  the  tropics, 
even  though  she  may  not  wear  it.  We  admire  the  Chinese 
carving  of  a  monster,  which  never  existed.  We  likewise 
admire  the  art  of  an  arrow  head  made  of  Jasper,  although 

38 


the  situation  which  brought  it  about  is  in  the  forgotten 
past,  and  its  uses  gone  forever.  The  fact  that  so  many  men 
and  women  still  read  Marcus  Aurelius  and  Thomas  a  Kempis 
shows  that  the  standards  of  ethics  have  not  changed,  to 
the  extent  that  you  and  Nietzsche  suppose. 

"It  is  still  wise  to  exercise  restraint  over  our  bodily 
impulses  and  functions.  The  child,  who  admiring  the  beauty 
of  a  hornet,  picks  it  up  is  sure  to  suffer.  The  man  of  wealth 
who  takes  a  strumpet  in  his  yacht  would  do  better  to  read 
Thomas  a  Kempis. 

"Expressing   in   this   way   some   modification   of   your 
views,  I  congratulate  you  upon  having  done  a  serious  work. 
Very  truly  yours, 

Saml.  W.  Pennypacker." 

The  following  letter  was  written  entirely  with  his 
left  hand  after  he  had  broken  his  right  arm.  He  had  lost 
the  address  of  Mr.  Mordell  and  simply  addressed  it 
to  him  "in  Philadelphia."  It  was  returned  to  the 
Governor  and  he  afterwards  re-sent  it  to  Mr.  Mordell 
with  the  comment  that  he  saw  that  a  Democratic 
Administration  was  unable  to  find  him.  As  illus- 
trating the  success  of  the  Post  Office  in  finding  a  man, 
I  recollect  that  Lawrence  Hutton,who  lived  at  Princeton 
when  Mark  Twain  was  abroad,  endeavored  to  find 
him,  and  not  knowing  his  address,  and  nobody  else 
knowing  his  address,  simply  put  on  a  postal  card 
"Mark  Twain,  the  Lord  knows  where,"  and  in  about 
six  weeks  he  got  back  a  postal  card  in  Mark's  hand- 
writing "He  did." 

The  letter  I  now  read: 

"Harrisburg  Club,  October  19,  1915. 
"Dear  Mordell: 

"I  have  read  the  'Waning  Classics'  which  you  were 
good  enough  to  send  me.    It  is  a  bold,  strong  presentation 

39 


of  a  view  and  contains  a  measure  of  truth,  but  not  absolute 
truth  which  is  still  at  the  bottom  of  the  well.  The  best  of 
your  papers,  and  the  one  with  which  I  least  agree,  is  that 
upon  the  Imitation  of  Christ.  Pardon  me  for  saying  to  you 
that  you  are  making  an  unsuccessful  effort  to  close  your 
eyes  to  certain  phases  of  truth. 

"When  I  was  a  child  I  read  with  great  enthusiasm  the 
Pilgrim's  Progress  oblivious  to  the  allegory  and  interested 
alone  in  the  story.  Are  you  familiar  with  Bergson's  Evolu- 
tion? His  theory  is  that  instinct  and  intelligence  are  both 
evolved,  that  intellect  having  arisen  from  a  consideration 
of  the  concrete,  numbers,  lines,  and  logic,  is  utterly  incap- 
able of  comprehending  life  and  that  as  to  life  instinct  is  our 
only  guide.  This  is  the  thought  of  Pascal  worked  out  by  a 
scientist,  except  that  Pascal  calls  it  heart.  There  are  realms 
of  thought  yet  open  for  your  explanation. 

Sincerely  yours, 

Sam'l  W.  Pennypacker." 

I  have  reserved  for  the  close  of  this  talk  An  Ad- 
dress at  the  Dinner  of  the  New  England  Society  in 
1891,  entitled  The  Keystone  and  Plymouth  Rock,  a 
happy  specimen  of  Judge  Pennypacker's  devotion  to 
Pennsylvania,  and  a  felicitous  example  of  his  skill  in 
blending  humor  with  history,  and  State  pride  with 
patriotism.  I  regard  it,  in  many  respects,  as  the  best 
of  his  speeches.  He  had  put  into  his  pocket  on  leaving 
his  house  for  the  banquet  a  little  book,  compiled  by 
Nathaniel  Dwight  and  published  at  Hartford,  Conn., 
in  1807,  called  "A  System  of  the  Geography  of  the 
World — By  way  of  Question  and  Answer — Principally 
Designed  for  Children  and  Common  Schools."  He 
read  the  question:  "  What  is  the  Character  of  the  Penn- 
sylvanians?"   and  the  Answer:  "Pennsylvania  is  in- 

40 


habited  by  a  great  variety  of  people.  *  *  *  Many  of 
the  yeomanry,  in  some  parts  of  this  State,  differ  from 
the  New  Englanders,  for  the  former  are  impatient  of 
good  government,  order  and  regularity,  and  the  latter 
are  orderly,  regular  and  loyal."  With  this  thrust  at 
his  audience,  he  recalled  a  toast  to  which  they  had  re- 
sponded with  applause:  "Benjamin  Franklin — the  dis- 
coverer of  Philadelphia,"  and  then  declared:  "In  a 
certain  sense  I  admit  the  fact  which  lies  concealed  in 
that  witticism;  and  in  that  sense  concede  that  Ben- 
jamin Franklin  was  'the  discoverer  of  Philadelphia.' 
When  the  cumulative  forces  of  civilization,  which  had 
been  gathering  for  fifteen  centuries,  had  made  their 
way  across  the  Atlantic,  and,  several  centuries  later, 
had  extended  beyond  the  Mississippi  and  reached  the 
base  of  the  Rocky  Mountains — then  the  potato  bug 
discovered  the  potato."  He  told  how  "in  1723  a 
young  man  of  seventeen  years  walked  from  the  Dela- 
ware, up  Market  Street  to  Fourth.  *  *  *  He  saw  the 
accumulated  shipping  at  the  wharves ;  he  saw  the  store- 
houses and  warehouses  of  a  prosperous  and  growing 
community;  and  in  the  market  house,  which  ran  along 
the  centre  of  the  street,  he  saw  the  rich  products  which 
had  come  down  from  the  farms  of  Lancaster  and 
Chester  Counties.  It  was  a  spectacle  the  like  of  which 
never  before  had  met  his  gaze  and — Benjamin  Frank- 
lin 'discovered'  Philadelphia."  He  pointed  out  that 
"in  all  her  efforts  to  ameliorate  the  condition  of  the 
human  race,  and  to  advance  the  cause  of  literature 
and  science,  Pennsylvania  has  had  the  warm  support 

41 


of  the  sons  of  New  England.  The  American  Phil- 
osophical Society,  which  was  the  first  of  our  scientific 
institutions,  has  had,  in  that  blessed  land,  many  suc- 
cessors." The  Law  Department  in  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  the  Medical  Department  had  been 
followed  by  those  at  Harvard;  the  Resolutions  of 
Philadelphia,  against  the  landing  of  tea,  had  been 
adopted  by  Boston  in  precisely  the  same  words,  three 
weeks  later;  the  principles  of  the  Revolution  as  stated 
by  John  Dickinson  in  the  Farmer's  Letters  had  been 
accepted  by  John  Adams  and  Samuel  Adams:  the  Adop- 
tion of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  by  Penn- 
sylvania was  followed  by  that  of  Massachusetts,  two 
months  later:  the  principles  of  religious  liberty  es- 
tablished by  Penn  were  finally  adopted  by  every  ham- 
let and  township  from  Maine  to  Connecticut;  the 
Antislavery  principles,  first  announced  in  German- 
town,  Philadelphia,  in  1688,  were  taken  up  by  Garri- 
son in  Boston  in  1831;  and  "When  that  great  struggle 
against  slavery  resulted  in  war,  the  men  of  Pennsyl- 
vania who  came  to  the  rescue  and  first  reached  the 
Capital  at  Washington  were  soon  followed  by  the  men 
of  Massachusetts.  And  in  the  battle  of  Gettysburg, 
where  that  wonderful  soldier,  George  G.  Meade,  broke  the 
back  of  the  Rebellion,  in  the  very  acme  of  that  crisis, 
when  the  fate  of  the  Nation  was  involved  in  the  issue 
and  the  advance  of  Pickett's  Division  hurled  itself  to 
destruction  against  the  Philadelphia  Brigade,  that  ever 
glorious  Brigade  stood  more  firmly  because  they  knew 
the  fact  that  the  Rhode  Island  Battery  of  Brown,  the 

42 


United  States  Battery  of  Cushing  and  the  brave  sons 
of  Massachusetts,  of  the  19th  and  20th  regiments, 
supported  them  on  every  side." 

Well  do  I  remember  the  cheers  with  which  that 
speech  was  received. 

I  have  dealt  with  but  few  phases  of  the  character 
of  this  many  sided  man — and  I  am  painfully  conscious 
of  the  inadequacy  of  my  treatment.  I  lack  the  knowl- 
edge and  I  lack  the  time.  It  would  require  the  pen  of 
a  Dibdin  or  a  Hazlitt,  and  the  science  of  the  real  anti- 
quarian book  lover  to  do  him  justice;  and  even  then 
I  doubt  whether  in  one  individual,  however  gifted,  the 
requisite  qualifications  would  be  found.  Depth  of 
knowledge  is  rarely  associated  with  descriptive  power. 
The  old  fashioned  Dry-as-dust  book  seller,  whose 
lungs  are  filled  with  the  pollen  of  withered  books, 
whose  hands  are  grimy  with  the  impalpable  powder 
of  decayed  bindings;  whose  eyes  are  bleared  by  de- 
ciphering illegible  manuscripts,  whose  shop  is  choked 
with  boxes  of  trash,  and  whose  outlook  upon  life  is 
bounded  by  priced  catalogues  or  the  excitement  of 
auction  sales  could  always  derive  instruction  and  en- 
couragement from  this  multifarious  man  of  affairs, 
whose  penetrating  intellect  sounded  the  centuries, 
whose  mental  grasp  comprehended  and  classified  the 
varied  learning  of  the  ages,  whose  real  activities  were 
those  of  a  Commonwealth,  whose  pride  and  whose 
courage  never  snapped  under  strain,  and  whose  serene 
faith  in  the  good  and  the  beautiful  and  the  true 
exalted  his  life  and  made  him  armor-proof  against 
calumny. 

43 


You,  gentlemen  of  The  Philobiblon  Club,  will  miss 
his  genial  presence,  his  unvarying  good  temper,  his 
hearty  laugh,  his  spice  of  anecdote,  his  quickness  of 
repartee,  his  zeal  for  learning,  his  sympathy  with  your 
aims,  his  stimulating  manliness,  his  talk  so  full  of 
mental  oxygen.  You  will  miss  this  man,  whose  fa- 
vorite aphorism  was  that  of  Alphonso  the  Wise:  "Old 
books  to  read,  old  wood  to  burn,  old  wine  to  drink, 
old  friends  for  company,  all  the  rest  are  only  baga- 
telles." 


it 


44 


